News & Trending Archives

Folklore & Fairy tale

Witches and the Folklore of Poisonous Plants written by Emma V Some of the most striking scenes of witchcraft in literature picture witches bent over a bubbling cauldron—from the three witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth tossing in ingredient after ingredient to cause “double, double toil and trouble”, to Harry, [...]

Sophie2023-01-13T13:56:45+01:00Tags: EmmaV, Fairy tale, Folklore|

New year, new reads

written by Lauren The holidays are over, the kids are back in school and life for many is settling back into its less frenzied, everyday pace. With more time at hand and cold weather prodding us into a kind of cozy hibernation, January is the perfect time to dive into [...]

Sophie2023-01-13T12:11:28+01:00Tags: Best of Lists, Lauren, New Releases|

Conversations with customers

Marie is a good example of a “growing up with ABC” customer: niece of our Sophie, she has known the ABC since she was born. Her ABC store may have changed from The Hague to Amsterdam, where she moved to study and work, but her loyalty remains the same. [...]

Sophie2023-01-07T13:40:18+01:00Tags: Interviews, Lília, Sophie|

ABC Top 5: 2022 Edition

Here we go again with our 5(ish) favorite reads of 2022. We try very hard to keep to 5, but it’s not always possible. So, there may be 5 or 6, an A and a B list, memorable reads or just plain marvelous books. We hope you enjoy it and [...]

Sophie2024-11-29T15:14:53+01:00Tags: Bella, Best of Lists, Board Games, Bob, Crime Fiction, EmmaS, EmmaV, Fantasy, Fiction, Japanese Fiction, Jelle, Jitse, Jonna, Jouke, Klaartje, Lauren, Lília, Lynn, Maarten, MariaS, Martijn, Natalia, Nature, Non-Fiction, Our Top 5, Philosophy, Romantic Fiction, Science Fiction, Sigrid, Simone, Sol, Sophie, Steven, Sywert, Tiemen, Young Adult|

ABC Anecdotes: Holiday stories from the 1970s

ABC’s Christmas of 1973 was quite eventful. Mitch, who had co-founded ABC the year before, went back to Baltimore for the holidays and left me in charge while we were renovating. He and the landlord, Jacob Kroonenberg, had agreed to level out the ground floor, which had been split-level, and to [...]

Sophie2026-04-04T10:41:54+02:00Tags: ABC Birthday, Anecdotes, Christmas, Lynn, Nadine, Rachel Pollack|

Have yourself a bookish little Christmas

written by Emma ‘Tis the season for Christmas standards including trees, stockings, presents and carols. But when it comes to books, we all have different tastes. That’s why we compiled a list of varied Christmas books for you to read during the holidays. Pay a quick visit to the world of [...]

Sophie2023-01-13T13:57:28+01:00Tags: Best of Lists, Christmas, EmmaV|

ABC Staff Picks Gift Edition

The Gift Season is finally here, so for this month’s Staff Picks we’re picking…you guessed it…gifts! From games to tarot sets and even a few books, prepare yourself for some top tips and a stellar list. Games Steven is our special orders guy, and besides reading tons, [...]

Sophie2023-04-06T12:02:22+02:00Tags: Bella, Best of Lists, Iris, Maarten, Maria, Max M., Natalia, Reinoud, Simone, Staff Picks, Steven, Tom|

Conversations with customers

Lauren Lauren is not only a customer but also our blog editor. She’s an avid reader, so when she moved to the Netherlands back in 1996 to work as a journalist, she just had to find the ABC. ABC Lília: Hi Lauren, great talking to you! Lauren: Thanks, [...]

Sophie2022-12-09T13:23:46+01:00Tags: Interviews, Lauren, Lília|

Move Over Amazon: Alternative Online Libraries

written by Ester Are you, just like me, in the habit of keeping an online library, with your read books and your TBR (To Be Read) piles? And is Goodreads – owned by Amazon - the only one you know? Then here are some great independent alternatives to look into. As [...]

Sophie2022-11-30T16:39:47+01:00Tags: Bookly, Booksloth, Ester, Goodreads, Literal*, Online Libraries, The StoryGraph|

ABC Staff Picks

written by Lília Halloween may be over, but we’re still in a ghostly mood. If you’re looking for some horror recommendations to counter all that holiday good cheer, read on… Syarah, from Amsterdam, recommends Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz. Set in Edinburgh in 1817, it tells [...]

Sophie2023-04-06T12:02:24+02:00Tags: Best of Lists, Biography, Card Game, Emma, Fantasy, Floris, Graphic Novel, Horror, Iris, Jilles, Lília, Luke, Romantic Fiction, Syarah, Sywert, Young Adult|

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